Apple just called to alert me to the battery firmware update that went out shortly after I laid my sorrows before you. I just installed the firmware fix and rebooted.Before Apple called, I was set to relate the last straw in the battery saga: Yesterday, I picked up the MacBook Pro to find its on-battery gauge doing the rapid blink of impending death. I put it on its charger for about an hour to give it just enough juice to do a quick post while untethered. Half an hour later, the external gauge showed almost fully charged.“Were you lying then, or are you lying now?”, I asked the gauge. “Guess,” it smirked to itself and extinguished after I pulled the charger.I opened the lid and the display lit up with the battery icon showing 99 percent. Over the course of about three minutes of active use it counted down reassuringly. 98…97…96…1…dark.I hope this fix takes. I’ll let you know. Thanks, commenters, for all of your suggestions. Software Development